-
(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) A crowd gathers at the Young County Annex to view live election results Tuesday, Nov. 5 from the general election. There was in increase in election day voters in Tuesday's election over the 2020 general election and overall there were more voters that cast ballots. -
(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Political signs on display on election day Tuesday, Nov. 5 at the North Central Texas College polling location in Graham.
Young County saw a surge in voters Tuesday as county residents took one final opportunity to cast their ballots in the general election.
Local contested races were for County Clerk, County Tax Assessor-Collector and for the unexpired term of a city of Olney city council member.
For County Clerk, Tina Gilliam and write-in candidate Walter Harvey were vying for the seat. Gilliam won the race with 7,318 votes, or 98.48% of the overall vote, over opponent Harvey who received 113 votes, or 1.52% of the overall vote.
For County Tax Assessor-Collector, incumbent Christy Centers and write-in candidate Kendra McClatchey were vying for the seat. Centers won the race with 6,840 votes, or 89.65% of the total vote, over opponent McClatchey who received 790 votes, or 10.35% of the total votes.
For the Olney city council position, candidates Steven Nurre and Kathy Muncy were vying for the seat. With 541 votes, or 57.25% of the total vote, Nurre won the race over opponent Muncy who received 404 votes, or 42.75% of the total vote.
Local races that ran uncontested in the election were 90th Judicial District Judge and District Attorney, County Attorney, Sheriff, County Treasurer, County Commissioner Pct. 1 and 3 and Constable Pct. 1 and 3.
Also on the ballot was a special charter amendment election for the city of Graham with nine amendments which all passed.
The city of Graham Home Rule Charter was adopted by voters at an election held July 28, 1920. The city of Graham Home Rule Charter was last amended 33 years ago, in May 1991.
In October 2023, the Graham Charter Review Working Group was formed and officially began its work in November. Members of the group reviewed the charter and determined what required alteration in order to conform to what is allowed under state law.
The group completed its review of the city’s charter at their meeting Thursday, May 16.
While the percentage of votes decreased from 69.64% in 2020 to 66.98% in 2024, there were a larger number of registered voters in 2024 and a larger number of voters overall.
In 2024, a total of 8,319 voters cast their ballots in the general election of the 12,420 registered county voters. This is an increase from 2020 which has a total of 8,231 voters cast their ballots in the general election of the 11,820 registered voters.
During the 2020 general election, early voting was also extended. The total number of hours open for voting in the 2020 general election was more than that of the 2024 general election, with 164 hours open for voting, as opposed to 135 hours.
The first week of early voting had a total of 4,499 voters cast their ballots, which was a sharp increase over the 3,806 in 2020. By the end of early voting, a total of 6,594 voters turned out to vote in the election, or 53.09% of all county registered voters.
While election day in 2020 saw its largest turnout with 1,163 voters casting their ballots, 2024 saw a larger turnout. A total of 1,382 turned out to vote on election day Tuesday, Nov. 5. 
